#I'll pretend to read Crosshair

[mysticalgalaxysalad]

Reblog to give the person you reblogged this from a Croissant (🥐).

[electrikworm]

Playing Pretend: Chapter 1

next

Relationships: Crosshair & Wrecker, Crosshair & OC (one-sided)

Content Warnings: Torture, whipping, Forced to hurt somebody, Blood and Injury, Zygerrian Slavery

Summary:

Being part Zygerrian, infiltrating a Zygerrian gang is all too easy for Crosshair. Things get significantly more difficult when Wrecker is captured. Crosshair is forced to torture his own brother as to not blow his cover. As things keep getting worse, Crosshair begins to wonder how Wrecker will ever be able to forgive him when he can't even imagine being able to forgive himself.

Chapter 1 written for @ailesswhumptober day 22: Forced to hurt somebody else and whipped

Written for @squad-724 Hybrid au, with amazing art by her as well :)))

Word count: 5,336

Read on Ao3

Despite his best efforts, Crosshair frowns when the whip is handed to him. It's an old-fashioned thing, made from heavy leather, thinning out towards the end and tipped with three heavy metal spikes. "What's wrong?" The Zygerrian that handed him the whip asks. She's the second in command of this little crime ring Crosshair's infiltrated, going by the name of Asesh. "Weren't you boasting about your ability to torture?" Crosshair scowls, ears flicking. His supposed skill in interrogation is the one of the reasons he was hired by the gang in the first place, beside his Zygerrian heritage. Whilst he hasn't got training in that area, he's certain he can improvise. Only issue is, he never anticipated he'd have to do so on one of his brothers.

The mission had been going fine. Infiltrating a Zygerrian gang isn't all too dificult when you're part Zygerrian yourself. They were all too ready to involve Crosshair in their group. Which was great of course, that's why he was chosen for the mission. Having Zygerrian blood will make Crosshair seem more trustworthy. It'll make it more likely that vital information will be shared with him.

All Crosshair needed was confirmation on if this gang was involved with the disappearance of two important senators. But things went slower than anticipated. He didn't want to push them to share something, worried he might cause them to distrust him. Maybe he should have been more persistent, than maybe things wouldn't have went so badly. With no way to safely contact his brothers, he had no way to inform them of the delay. They arrived for his extraction like planed and Crosshair had to hastily send them away. They'd gone unnoticed, or at least, that's what Crosshair thought until he was called for a meeting and Wrecker was dragged in, bound, gagged and beaten. He's not looked at Crosshair once since he's been manhandled onto his knees in the middle of the room by two of the larger gang members. "Whips aren't exactly my style," Crosshair says, trying to hand it back.

Asesh smiles, far too softly for someone asking Crosshair to torture his own brother. Of course, if she finds that out, they'll both be in Wrecker's position.

“You've never used a whip before? You've truly been kept from your heritage for far too long,” she says, shaking her head. “First I find out you don't speak Zygerrian, now this. Next you'll tell me you're against slavery.”

Asesh laughs, loud enough to make Crosshair's ears hurt. Crosshair joins her, faking amusement at the crude joke. It's not the first horrible thing of hers he's had to pretend to find funny, but this time hurts the most by far.

“I'll give you advice, don't worry,” Asesh says with a grin, patting Crosshair's back. “It will do you good to learn, to connect with your heritage. Whips also make for good exercise.”

Crosshair forces a smile.

“Don't we usually use a different type of whip?” Crosshair asks, inspecting the object in his hand.

Electro-whips are extremely painful, but to Crosshair's knowledge, are designed not to leave permanent damage. The leather whip he's holding looks vicious, if given a choice, he'd swap it for the electric variant. He's not getting out of doing this, might as well try and reduce the harm done to Wrecker.

Asesh scoffs. “Electro-whips are good, but are to keep merchandise from losing value. And we don't need this little intruder in good shape by the end of this.” She closes the gap between her and Wrecker, grabbing his face and laughing. “And have you seen him? Hideous! A few more scars won't make him uglier.”

“What even is he?” one of the guards asks, wrinkling their nose. Asesh shrugs.

“Part Lasat,” the second guard speaks. “Look at his feet and ears.”

The first pulls a face. “Never seen one of those.”

“You know, big, hairy, weird legs,” the second continues. Asesh shuts him up with a wave of her hand. Crosshair doesn't say anything. Best none of the Zygerrians know he has any familiarity with Wrecker or his species.

Crosshair has to fight the urge to put himself between Asesh and his brother as she prods at his face, dragging her claws across it near his blind eye. Wrecker's always nervous when someone's on his blind side, Crosshair can see the discomfort in his eyes as he tries to twist out of her grip.

“I did not know Humans could even breed with Lasat, but I can see why they don't do so often. The mix isn't very pretty, is it?” Asesh laughs as Wrecker mumbles something.

Pulling the cloth used to gag him out of his mouth, the fabric catching on Wrecker's sharp teeth, Asesh leans close.

“You can make this very easy for yourself, half-breed. Tell us who you work for and what you were doing sneaking around our property and it will all be over.” Asesh smiles, tipping Wrecker's head back far enough to make Wrecker squirm. She runs a hand over his short, purple hair, trailing her claws along his pointed ears, first the intact one, then the one torn by the blast that took Wrecker's eye.

“Kriff off,” Wrecker growls. “You don't scare me.”

Barking a laugh, Asesh looks back at Crosshair, gesturing to him with her free hand. “See him? He lacks experience, yes, but Cross will more than make up for that in the passion he shows for cruelty.” She leans in close enough for Crosshair to have to strain to hear what she hisses into Wrecker's ear next. “Once he's done with you, you won't even be able to crawl out of this room.”

Doing his best to remain neutral, Crosshair swallows. He's been laying it on thick the last few days, telling the Zygerrians all kinds of tall tales about how much he enjoys the suffering of others. He really wishes he'd just kept his mouth shut.

Not only will he have to torture his brother, he will have to pretend to enjoy it. Crosshair swallows thickly against the nausea building steadily.

After motioning for the guards to turn Wrecker so his back's towards them, Asesh splits Wrecker's plain shirt with her claws. Once torn enough, Asesh slips the ruined item of clothes of his chest. Lines of fresh blood run down Wrecker's skin where she's raked her claws over it.

Wrecker barely flinches. Crosshair knows things won't stay that way for long.

Turning to Crosshair, Asesh grins, flicking the blood off her claws. “Try it,” She says, indicating the whip.

Crosshair watches the weapon unfurl onto the floor, testing its feel. It's heavy. Aiming at an empty spot in the room, Crosshair swings it weakly. If he proves how bad he is at using it now, Asesh won't suspect anything when he goes easy on Wrecker.

Asesh hums as she watches Crosshair's pathetic display. Putting her hands on her hips, she narrows her eyes at Crosshair. For a moment, Crosshair thinks she's caught on to him. If so, he'll have to get out of here as fast as he can. With Wrecker of course. There's no way he's leaving him here alone.

“You really are bad with whips,” Asesh says, laughing to herself.

Crossahir fakes mild offense. “I said so, didn't I?”

“Let me show you.” Asesh moves to Crosshair's side, putting her hand over his on the hilt of the whip. She moves his arm for him, showing him the correct way to swing it.

When Crosshair swings it again, still holding back, it cracks loudly. Wrecker flinches at the noise, catching Asesh's attention. She leans close to Crosshair.

“See that? He may act tough, but he's terrified already. He'll be crying at your hands soon enough.” Her teeth glint as she smiles widely, making Crosshair want to shove her far away from himself. She turns back to Wrecker, speaking loudly again. “Now, anything you wish to share?”

Wrecker stays silent.

“Seems he wishes to do things the hard way. Cross, don't worry yourself too much about aiming. Just hit him as hard as you can.”

Crosshair hesitates. He can't miss Wrecker, it would be obvious he'd done so purposefully. He also can't let Asesh see he's not giving it his all. Holding his breath, Crosshair draws his arm back.

He tries to avoid the organs he knows are relatively exposed on Wrecker's lower back. The thick leather of the whip leaves an immediate welt of Wrecker's back, but Crosshair's aim really is bad, and the thin tip hits Wrecker's shoulder, splitting the skin there. The sharp tips even wrap around his shoulder, digging into the muscle at the front.

Wrecker cries out, making Crosshair's heart drop.

Asesh lets out a delighted shriek. “You are a natural! It's in you're blood, as I have been telling you.”

Wrecker's ears twitch nervously as awaits the next lash. Crosshair just holds the whip, unsure how to proceed. The Zygerrians will want him to continue, but he won't do so unless told so.

He glances at Asesh, hating himself for having to execute what ever order she'll give him. She gives Crosshair an encouraging nod and smile, leaving him both no option but to smile back and swing the weapon at his brother again.

Crosshair longs for his helmet as he brings the whip down on Wrecker's back again. It's bad enough having to hurt his brother, Crosshair could do without having to pretend to like it as well.

He avoided hitting Wrecker's shoulder with the tip again, but he's fairly certain it caught the muscle on Wrecker's upper arm.

Wrecker doesn't cry out this time, a bit back noise of pain being all that leaves him. Crosshair feels sick.

Asesh circles Wrecker as Crosshair is forced to continue. The lashes begin to layer across one another, clearly hurting a lot worse when the do judging by Wrecker's reaction. He's nervously retracting and extending the claws on his feet, even when Crosshair isn't actively hitting him.

Crosshair almost gasps as a particularity badly aimed swing leaves a deep cut diagonally across Wrecker's upper back, quickly having to cover the noise by faking a laugh. There's pride in Asesh's eyes as she watches Crosshair. It makes him want rip her throat out.

“It's good to laugh when you are having fun,” she says. “Don't let anyone here make you feel like you can't.”

Asesh stands directly in front of Wrecker as Crosshair strikes him the next three times, clearly enjoying herself as her eyes focus on Wrecker's face.

“Give me that,” Asesh says, pointing at the whip in Crosshair's hand. He thinks he's done something wrong until she continues. “His expression is amusing, you have got to see it.”

Willing his body not to hesitate, Crosshair walks around Wrecker, handing Asesh the whip as she passes.

Wrecker can barely look at Crosshair, only glancing up at him shortly. Kark, are those tear tracks? Crosshair's made his brother cry in the past, they've all done so at one point when they got into arguments. Never like this though.

When no one is looking, Crosshair one handedly uses their squads apology sign at Wrecker's eye level. He isn't sure Wrecker's seen it, and even if he has, Crosshair's not sure how Wrecker could ever forgive him.

Asesh cracks the whip without letting it hit Wrecker, delighting at the way Wrecker tenses. Wrecker looks up at Crosshair, expression almost neutral if it weren't for the pain he's covering up.

Then the whip lands on his back and Wrecker's face scrunches, teeth clicking at how fast he clenches his jaw. It takes every bit of willpower Crosshair has not to react to his brothers distress. He has to force his ears and tail from flicking as he watches Wrecker suffer, willing his expression and body language into one of enjoyment.

Asesh wastes no time before continuing, bringing the weapon down on Wrecker over and over in quick succession. Wrecker's hands shake where they're bound in front of him. He's barely able to keep upright, Asesh only giving him a break if the guards have to right the way Wrecker kneels.

When she stops, breathing heavily from exertion, Crosshair can see blood splattered on the floor either side of Wrecker.

Smiling at Crosshair, Asesh motions hims to move closer to Wrecker. “Go on, interrogate him. And get your claws involved. It's a beautiful experience, sinking your claws into a lowly creatures flesh.”

With a quiet, shaky breath, Crosshair grabs Wrecker's face like Asesh did, keeping his claws away from the skin. Instead, he sinks those on his other hand into Wrecker's shoulder where Asesh can see them.

Wrecker hisses in pain, making Crosshair want to let go. He doesn't.

“Tell us who you are and what you were doing here,” Crosshair hisses.

“You'll get nothing from me,” Wrecker barks, voice strained and breathy. Crosshair has to tighten his grip as Wrecker squirms, making him cry out again.

“Speak,” Crosshair yells. Wrecker just keeps fighting against his grip in response. He manages to shake Crosshair off, falling onto his side in the process. Asesh finds this extremely amusing.

“Take over for me Cross. You are young and have a lot of energy,” Asesh orders, Extending her hand holding the whip. Drops of Wrecker's blood fall from it and onto the floor in the time it takes Crosshair to walk to her.

Wrecker's back is in a sorry state, almost making Crosshair react to the sight. Deep, bleeding marks layer the skin, tearing it to shreds in places. Crosshair's hand trembles slightly as he allows the whip to unfurl again.

If Asesh lets this go on much longer, Wrecker will die.

She asks Wrecker questions as Crosshair continues as slowly as he dares. Wrecker screams every time he's hit now. Crosshair isn't sure he'll ever be able to forget the sound.

When Asesh finally calls an end to the torture, Crosshair feels like collapsing.

“A night on the floor will make him more agreeable,” Asesh smirks. She's about to walk off when Crosshair stops her.

“What about infection?” he asks. He's pushing his luck, but with how open Wrecker's back is, it's worth the risk.

“Why would we care about that?” one of the guards huffs, only to be shut up by a hand gesture from Asesh.

“No, he is right. Our prisoner will die on our terms, not from some infection.” She pats Crosshair's back affectionately, before gesturing at the guard she interrupted. “Find something to use as disinfectant, alcohol or salt, I don't care. And bring a large piece of cloth. We don't waste medical supplies on prisoners.”

It dawns on Crosshair that Asesh is going to use this to hurt Wrecker even further.

The guard leaves and Wrecker is forced onto his stomach on the floor, bound hands stretched out far in front of him. Asesh takes the whip from Crosshair's hands and his stomach drops.

“Watch this,” she says, nudging Crosshair's side playfully. Asesh brings the whip down on Wrecker's exposed lower legs. She catches him right near the ankle, making him kick his legs up.

Asesh naturally doesn't leave it at that, ordering Crosshair to straighten Wrecker's legs each time he squirms away from her. Thankfully, Crosshair isn't forced to use the whip on his brother this way as well as Asesh stops when the guard returns.

Wrecker's still left with bunch of new welts and cuts, a few ugly ones across the bottom of his feet, damaging the pads situated there. Crosshair cringes at the sight, playing the motion off as him shaking his arms out. He knows that Wrecker has a lot of feeling in his feet and a lot more range of motion than a human would. The damage will affect him badly.

“What did you find?” Asesh ask the guard.

“Salt,” he says. In addition to a package of salt, he's holding a blanket, made from rough material by the looks of it.

Upon Asesh's order, he hands both the items to Crosshair.

“Have fun,” she says genuinely, pointing at Wrecker.

Faking a laugh, Crosshair kneels down next to Wrecker. He's panting for air, cheek pressed to the floor. The skin on his back is in shreds, even peeling off in places.

Nausea threatens to overcome Crosshair as he watches his brother's chest rise and fall, shifting his back, glistening with blood.

Crosshair tips some salt into his hand. The situation would be bad enough, but the guard's managed to find particularly coarse salt. Its rough edges will only add to the way it will irritate Wrecker's wounds. He's not sure this is better than the risk of infection. Once again, Crosshair wishes he'd kept his mouth shut.

Just as he's about to pour the first of the salt onto Wrecker's back, Asesh interrupts him.

“Is he purring?” She exclaims, laughter bursting out of her.

Now Crosshair's been made aware of it, he hears it too. It makes his heart hurt. The urge to lay down beside his brother and purr as well, to maybe make him feel just a little better, is near overwhelming.

“Like a scared child! Pathetic,” Asesh continues. She kicks Wrecker in the ribs, making him gasp. Crosshair laughs automatically, not even fully realizing that he's doing so anymore.

When Asesh signals him to continue, Crosshair empties the content of his hand onto Wrecker's back. Wrecker writhes as the salt clings to his open wounds, whimpering and gasping as the sting sets in. Continuing, Crossahir pours salt directly from the container, moving as fast as he can.

“No need to rush,” Asesh intervenes. “Enjoy yourself! Really get the salt in there. We wouldn't want our prisoner to get an infection.” She smiles at Crosshair, encouragingly. Crosshair looks down at Wrecker's back before nodding. That way, he doesn't need to manage his expression too much.

Being mindful of his claws, Crosshair starts using his hands to rub the salt deeper into Wrecker's wounds. Wreckers howls in pain, struggling to get away from Crosshair. He pushes his torso off the ground, but Asesh is there to stop him, putting a boot on the back of Wrecker's neck.

She nods at Crosshair, looking pleased.

Crosshair does his best to block out both Wrecker's screams and anything coming from Asesh as he continues. His hands soak with blood as he works. Crosshair doesn't want to imagine what the rough crystals of salt must feel like rubbing against open injuries,

Once he's done, Asesh hands him the blanket. “Wrap it around his chest. It will stop the bleeding.”

The material of the blanket is awful to touch, the kind Hunter couldn't stand. Having it used as makeshift bandages should classify as a type of torture in and of itself.

As carefully as he dares, Crosshair wraps the fabric around Wrecker's torso, having to force him onto his back to tie it at the front. The wounds on Wrecker's arms and legs remain open, salt acting as the only barrier between open skin and the surrounding world.

Asesh, with Crosshair's help, maneuvers Wrecker to his knees. He sways slightly as he sits slumped.

“You will talk,” Asesh hisses, grabbing Wrecker's face again. “It is only a matter of time.”

Wrecker growls, lunging forwards to snap at her. Asesh laughs, avoiding his bite easily.

“You are amusing,” she says. “I like hurting creatures with a little fight in them. Makes breaking them all the more fun. Maybe I'll keep you.”

With a hand wave, Asesh gets the guards to pull Wrecker onto his feet, dragging him out of the room. He can barely keep his legs under himself, leaving bloody marks where ever his feet make contact with the floor.

Asesh follows the guards, so Crosshair won't stick out doing so. At least he'll know where Wrecker is being kept.

It's a small room, smaller than the one used for interrogation. Maybe it was once used for storage, but now, it's been fashioned into a bare cell. Asesh wasn't kidding about making Wrecker sleep on the floor.

Swiftly, Wrecker is shoved to the ground, hitting it hard. Crosshair just about catches how Wrecker curls up on his side and the sound of him purring quietly to himself before the door is slammed shut.

The only thing Crosshair wants to do now is be alone, somewhere dark where no one can see him.

But Asesh asks him to follow her, so he does.

She steps out of a door towards the back of the base the gangs set up. It leads into a narrow ally, barely illuminated by a humming neon tube just over the door. Asesh leans against the wall, lighting a cigarette. She offers one to Crosshair, like she does every time. He declines.

“Suit yourself,” Asesh shrugs. She smokes in silence for a while, at least having the decency not to exhale smoke in Crosshair's direction. There's small specks of blood on her hands, making Croshair want to look away from her.

Looking at his boots, he spots the state of his own hands. Dry and drying blood is caked on his skin, concentrated around his claws. The contrast to his pale skin is stark. Crosshair's skin itches. He wants to scratch at it until any trace of Wrecker's blood is gone.

“You've never been taught how to break a slave, have you?” Asesh asks, cigarette barely held between her fingers as she gestures.

Crosshair shakes his head.

Asesh clicks her tongue before taking another drag of her cigarette. “Never even owned one, have you?”

Crosshair shakes his head again, looking anywhere but where Asesh is standing.

“I guess it is not uncommon. Not everyone can afford them, especially with large portions of our trade being ruined by this Galactic Republic,” Asesh scoffs. “It is sad that you have been kept from your culture. It is hardly your fault you have inferior blood running through your veins. That is no excuse to keep you from who you really are.”

Crosshair nods, turning his grimace into a smile. “You've done a lot to make that right.”

He looks at Asesh, regretting the action when he spots the soft, fond smile on her face. Crosshair needs the gang to like him if he's going to get any information from them, but he doesn't like this one bit.

“We'll get information from the prisoner sooner or later, but I plan to keep him. I will use him to teach you the slave trade,” Asesh says, putting a hand on Crosshair's shoulder. “If your work today is any indication, you will make a fine slaver.”

Crosshair feels sick. He hasn't felt this unwell since he was a cadet. But all he does is continue smiling. “I'd like that a lot.”

Asesh laughs. “I knew you'd agree! After how much fun you had with the prisoner, there was no doubt in my mind!”

He'd fooled the Zygerrians, Crosshair just hopes he hasn't fooled Wrecker.

“Now, go, eat, get some rest. No need for you to keep an old woman like me company,” Asesh laughs. “Think of some other things you'd like to do to that prisoner as well,” she says with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Crosshair's about to turn away from her when she grabs his arm. “And Cross, don't let anyone say your human blood defines you. You're a truer Zygerrian than many pure-blooded ones will ever be.”

“Thank you,” Crosshair says, playing off his disgust as modesty.

“I mean it. You're made for this.” With a smile, she lets go of Crosshair's arm and goes back to smoking.

Crosshair doesn't stop or let himself get distracted the entire way to the quarters he has set up in the gangs base. He barely breathes the whole duration of the way.

Once he's in the small room, he drops himself on his bed, going limp.

The day couldn't have gone worse. Not only did he fail to get the mission done in the time frame he should have, but his slow progress has landed Wrecker in a horrible situation.

He must hate Crosshair, there's no way he doesn't. Crosshair has to believe that Wrecker knows Crosshair would never enjoy hurting him like that, but even so, Wrecker must hate him for getting him stuck in this situation in the first place.

Shifting onto his side, Crosshair stares at his bloody hands. There's nothing he can do to fix the situation now. All he can do is continue the mission. If he doesn't, Crosshair's put his brothers lives in danger for nothing.

He can't risk bringing Wrecker any useful item or giving him medical help. If anyone notices, Crosshair could blow his cover. But Crosshair has to check on him, just to see what kind of state Wrecker's in.

When most of the gang is sleeping, then he'll go.

It's agony, doing nothing as he waits. He only leaves his room once to wash his hands. The blood doesn't seem to come off. It's like it's soaked under Crosshair's skin.

He doesn't eat. Crosshair feels like he should be hungry, but the thought of food just makes his nausea worse.

Crosshair hates being like this, useless. He's done nothing, achieved nothing this mission. Except for torturing his own brother of course.

The Zygerrians trust Crosshair, but not enough to share valuable information with him. And all Crosshair can do is keep playing this game, keep hurting Wrecker until he completes the objective.

What's worse is, Crosshair actually liked Asesh.

Crosshair's young, a new member of the gang and not even a full Zygerrian. Other members made sure to remind him of this. Not Asesh. She was nice from the start, looked out for him, was easily impressed by his skills and made sure to point out when he did something worthy of praise.

Asesh treated Crosshair like an actual living, breathing sentient being. Natborns don't do that often.

It didn't matter to Crosshair that she was a horrible person, none of that affected him. It's easy to play along with someone's bad behavior and values if none of them are directed at you.

But now Wrecker's their prisoner, now Crosshair's forced to act on those opinions he pretended to have.

Even after washing his hands, Crosshair can still smell the blood. It's like the scent clings to him, his clothes, his hair, his skin. He can't escape it.

Once the lights in the hall are turned off for the night, Crosshair wastes little time in retracing his steps to the cell Wrecker's been left in.

Only standing at the door does it dawn on Crosshair that he doesn't have a key or code to get in.

Staring at the panel next to the door, Crosshair thinks. The guard didn't use a code or key card, did he?

Hesitantly, Crosshair pushes a button on the panel, than another. He repeats the process until inexplicably, the light at the bottom of the panel flashes green and the door slides open.

That isn't very secure, Crosshair thinks to himself.

The inside of the room had it's door panel removed. Crosshair groans. That makes the chances of one of the Zygerrians seeing him much higher. He'd have preferred the privacy of a closed door.

The room is dark, but it's easy to make out Wrecker's curled up form on the floor near the wall. He's shaking, purring quietly.

Glancing into the corridor behind him, Crosshair waits. When he can't hear anyone approaching, he moves to Wrecker's side, moving slow as to not spook his brother. Once close enough, he crouches next to Wrecker, hovering his hand just above Wrecker's shoulder.

“Wrecker?” Crosshair asks, carefully letting his fingers brush across Wrecker's skin.

Wrecker flinches, gasping in pain as he crawls away from Crosshair's touch. Crosshair watches in horrified silence as Wrecker struggles to avoid being near him. It's entirely justified, still hurts to be exposed to that truth.

Stepping over Wrecker, Crosshair goes down to his level again, this time in his line of sight.

“Please, stay calm,” Crosshair pleads. “I'm not here to hurt you.” The last thing Crosshair needs is the Zygerrians being alerted of his presence in the cell.

Wrecker shifts, eyes widening as he looks up. He's not struggling anymore at least.

“Cross?” Wrecker's voice is hoarse. Crosshair mentally kicks himself for not bringing any water for his brother. Groaning weakly, Wrecker tries to sit up. Crosshair makes him stay down, hating the way Wrecker seems to shy away from his touch.

“I'll complete the mission soon, I promise,” Crosshair says. It would be easy to leave with Wrecker now, but there's no telling what will happen to their squad if they fail a mission this vital. The lives of important people are at stake. The Republic will value those over the life of clones, especially experimental ones. “Things will continue tomorrow, but I'll get you out of her. I just don't know when yet.”

Wrecker nods, laying his head on the ground. His eyes are barely open, half lidded as he goes back to purring. Quietly, Crosshair joins him as he looks him over. The blood on Wrecker's arms and legs is drying, wounds still looking wet. The blanket has red stains where it covers Wrecker's back.

“Does it hurt?” Crosshair asks, immediately regretting the stupid question. Crosshair can't get anything right today.

Humoring Crosshair for some reason, Wrecker nods. “S'okay if I don't move or breath too hard,” Wrecker mumbles, eyes falling closed.

Crosshair almost puts a hand on Wrecker again, but stops himself. Wrecker clearly doesn't want Crosshair touching him. Crosshair has to respect that.

“For what it's worth, I'm sorry,” Crosshair says, knowing his apology is entirely worthless. Wrecker's silence seems to indicate that he agrees.

That's when footsteps echo down the corridor. Crosshair leaps to his feet, looking for a rout of escape. Maybe if he's fast he can slip out of the cell unnoticed.

No, the person approaching is too close already. There's only one way Crosshair's getting out of this without blowing his cover.

With a quiet apology to Wrecker, Crosshair kicks him in the ribs, just hard enough to make Wrecker cry out.

“Speak!” Crosshair yells, surprising himself with how loud he is.

A familiar laugh filters into the room.

Crosshair looks up to find Asesh leaning on the door frame.

“I thought I would find you here,” she smirks.

Crosshair freezes. Does she know? Has she known this whole time?

“You're so eager to cause suffering, aren't you, Cross?” she continues.

“He should have spoken by now,” Crosshair says, hoping Asesh isn't just toying with him.

“These things take time, don't worry.” Asesh walks closer, threateningly. “But you are right. It does help to keep prisoners from getting any rest.”

She laughs. Swiftly, she hooks the heel of her boot over Wrecker's chest, flipping him onto his back. Wrecker gasps for breath as he arches off the floor, short, pained noises leaving him.

Asesh puts her weight on Wrecker's ribs, leaning forward towards Crosshair. Wrecker whimpers.

“You however need your rest. I admire your passion, but sleep is important. We will continue tomorrow,” Asesh says, leaning far enough to pat Crosshair's arm.

Soon as she takes her weight off of Wrecker, he turns onto his side. Asesh begins to escort Crosshair out of the cell, not before kicking Wrecker in the back for good measure.

Standing outside the cell, Crosshair feels worse than he did before. He'd managed to make life more miserable for Wrecker, just because he wanted to make himself feel less guilty by fishing for forgiveness.

“Sleep. I need you in top form tomorrow,” Asesh speaks as she closes the door to the cell. Crosshair catches one last glance of Wrecker's form against the far wall.

Crosshair nods, making his way back to his sleeping quarters. There's no way he's getting any decent rest. Not when he knows Wrecker is suffering a few corridors over.

[nahoney22]

Hello! I happened to finish reading your touch starved fics and it was phenomenal beyond words! ♥︎ If it's not too much trouble, I had seen your requests open and wanted to request a scenario if you're interested, if not, please don't feel pressured to act on this request :)

I had a small thought for a more platonic dynamic between the reader (fem or GN) towards all the batchers in the beginning. The reader sets boundaries for themselves to not fall for any of the boys with the thought of it being a distraction. Then their heart just goes DOKI DOKI whilst they unknowingly begin pining for one of the batchers (may be any of the boys of your choosing). It may be angsty, fluffy, or even bittsweet it aches the heart, whatever you choose I'll be rooting for you! Best wishes! ✌️💕

That Feeling

All Bad Batch Boys X F!Reader (but can probably be read as GN)

warnings: Echo’s, Hunters and Wreckers are mainly fluff, crosshair and techs are a little angsty. Brief mention of Order 66.

authors note: I know you said I could pick whoever but why not ALL? Sorry for the wait 💜 and thank you for the kind words.

Like you did with all of them, you closed yourself off to the Bad Batch in regards to intimate feelings. But, the more you grew to know them, the more of a challenge it became. Especially with…

Echo

Echo had always been the person you could talk to about anything without feeling judged. Despite his occasional gloomy demeanor, he exuded a calming aura that drew you towards him.

However, it became an issue on one particular day. After trudging through the snowy mountains of Hoth with Hunter and Crosshair, you returned to the ship. From a distance, you spotted Echo standing outside, and the mere sight of him warmed you despite the freezing cold.

As everyone prepared to board, you were the last to step onto the gangplank. Just as you set foot on the icy steps, Echo reached out his hand, cautioning you, "Careful, it's a little icy." Your eyes glanced at the shimmering surface before meeting his gaze, and gratefully, you accepted his hand.

In that moment, your heart nearly leapt out of your chest. It was an innocent gesture, but the touch of his hand on yours, even with thick gloves on, was tender and cautious as he guided you up the steps. It even sent a wave of panic through you. The intensity of your reaction caught you off guard. This could not be happening… you swore you wouldn’t get attached.

Once inside the ship, you couldn't help but notice that he allowed his hand to linger on yours for a moment longer than necessary before finally releasing it. With a smile and a nod, he advised you to warm up before making his way towards the cockpit.

Oh dear, something had shifted within you. The impact of that simple touch alone lingered in your mind for the next few days.

Hunter

You found yourself staring intently, almost transfixed. It wasn't until Hunter turned in your direction, flashing a warm smile and even offering a casual wave that you snapped out of your trance. Your face flushed as you quickly, though not so discreetly, pretended to be engrossed in something else, desperately avoiding the fact that you had been openly staring at Hunter while he trained.

Shirtless.

You were well aware of his attractiveness—no, you knew he was attractive—but it wasn't until now, witnessing his muscles straining against his skin as he moved through different positions, that your heart started racing.

He was your friend, for crying out loud! Yet, here you were, pretending to read a holobook while secretly yearning for him. Your heart raced, threatening to escape your chest, while his smile nearly caused it to stop altogether.

"Pull yourself together," you muttered quietly, cursing your own internal turmoil. Nevertheless, you couldn't help but view him differently from that moment on. He had captured your heart, and there was no denying it.

Wrecker

“Hey, I got ya something.”

You looked up to the sound of Wrecker’s voice as he approached you and sure enough, he had both hands full of what seemed to be a delicious delicacy on this backwater planet.

Wrecker usually got you something when you guys travelled around and the more he did it, the more your heart started to beat a little quicker in his company. At first you thought it was simply a friendly thing - a nice gesture from a friend - but you had noticed he didn’t do it for his brothers and only sometimes for Omega. It actually made you feel quite special.

Truthfully you were unsure of the reasonings behind his gestures but a part of you started to hope that it was more than just a friendly thing.

“Are ya gonna take it?” He spoke and you blush hard as you realised you had just been sat starting up at him with the dreamiest stare: because after all, he was very easy on the eye too.

“Oh, thanks.” You smile, taking the food from him and watch as he happily struts off leaving you a little confused to what your feelings now were.

Tech

You didn’t mean for it to happen, you didn’t mean to get so attached that your heart sped up a little bit more every time you were in his proximity but it did.

Tech had always been a good friend, always someone who had to have a say in something even if it didn’t involve him but always someone who gave sound advice. Over time, you became closer until you started to feel that fluttering in your chest whenever he looked your way.

You knew that feeling all too well and so you decided to distance yourself just a tad, swearing to not get too attached but it was far too late.

Your feelings grew and you harboured a strong longing for him but when you saw him with Phee, your heart shattered just a tad. At first you had just thought it was a one-sided attraction but then you saw the way he smiled at her. Heartfelt and warm.

You just knew that he would never smile at you the same way.

So, with every strength you could muster up you sat back, and kept your feelings locked in tight. He deserves to be happy.

Crosshair

It was too late.

Too late to say how much he meant to you and how much you wanted to be with him.

After reprimanding yourself for feeling a type of way towards the Marksman, you couldn’t hold it in anymore and you had to tell him how he made you feel, how your heart raced when he showed you his cocky smile or simple kindness of telling you ‘good job’ after a mission. You didn’t want to get distracted by him, always wanting to remain professional but he was impossible to resist.

But that day on Kaller brought everything to a halt. He was cold towards you, something he never was. Well, in a sense.

But when the Order came through it was like something shifted within him entirely. With his brothers refusing the order, going against him, you felt like the day would end in heartbreak. And it did.

He shot at you. A man who you saw as a colleague, a friend, and perhaps a lover shot at you.

You begged him to stop, to put down his weapon but he didn’t.

It was too late to tell him you loved him, and too late to save him.

Masterlist

Tags: @andyoufollowyourheart @littlefeatherr @kaitou2417 @eyecandyeoz @captxin-rex @jesseeka @ashotofspotchka @oohyesplease @theroguesully @ladykatakuri @jambolska-grozdova @arctrooper69 @padawancat97 @rain-on-kamino @either-madness-or-brilliance @staycalmandhugaclone @ko-neko-san @echos-girlfriend @fiveshelmet @dangraccoon @plushymiku-blog @chrissywakingup @kixs-husband @pb-jellybeans @nunanuggets @tech-aficionado @grizabellasolo @therealnekomari @tech-depression-inventory @brynhildrmimi @greaser-wolf @tinyreadersmur @kaminocasey @marvel-starwars-nerd @ladytano420 @ladyzirkonia @raevulsix @imalovernotahater @crystal076 @blustalker . @the-good-shittt @whore4rex @imperialclaw801 @temple-elder r @mysticalgalaxysalad @photogirl894 @fantasyproductions @by-the-primes @the-bad-batch-baroness @sleepycreativewriter

[thrawns-babygirl]

I had an anon in my askbox that was rudely asking me something along the lines of "why aren't you posting about Crosshair anymore" and I got mad and deleted it before figuring I should probably explain myself a little because all 860 of you did initially follow me for crosshair content so here goes:

So, like many of us, I am neurodivergent. I have intense, all encompassing hyperfixations that give me that ridiculous dopamine hit that we all know and love. Unfortunately, these hyperfixations have a shelf life (as much as I would prefer to be able to hyperfixate on a single thing for a long time and not worry about the enjoyment waning)

This means that in time, I struggle to connect with certain media the way I used to. If I set certain media to the side and then think about it a little while later, then I can sometimes get that rush back like I did when I first engaged with the media.

A good example of this is actually Hux and the sequel trilogy. Back when the sequels were new and exciting I was a feral Hux stan. I didn't have a blog I used back then so I just read fanfic on Ao3 and info dumped to my friends. (Lmao sorry guys)

But then the interest slowly waned, for star wars all together and I hyperfixated on other things, My Hero Academia, Haikyuu, Star Trek, until eventually my brain had enough of a break from Star Wars and let me get fully invested in it again.

Basically what I'm trying to say is, I would love nothing more than to still be fully invested in the Bad Batch fandom, but my brain will not let me feel the same way about it until I have a small break and think about something else for a while.

And like many of us, it was my comfort show. With my comfort characters. When the season 2 finale aired I was a mess. I'm not even a full time Tech fan but the way he went out broke me. It was hard to think about the show at all without feeling a whole slew of negative emotions, so I started rewatching rebels and the sequels to find a new comfort show and other comfort characters.

Look none of this makes any sense, but basically I'm sorry for the hux spam and lack of TBB content lately. It will return. I will come back to it, but its just really hard at the moment. I'll still finish off the requests once I am settled at my new house, but after that I probably won't turn requests back on for a while until I get over my negative emotions towards the show.

And before you hit me with the "but Hux died too" look i know, it's just easier to talk myself out of that one because it was so negligible in the grand scheme of the movie I can pretend he was helped into a bacta tank or something.

Look, if you got this far, thanks for reading my unmedicated ramblings. I'm sorry that the content you followed me for isn't happening as much anymore, but it will come back one day. When it's less difficult for me to think about.

Until then, enjoy the Thrawn posting and Hux posting. Or don't. I dont make the rules.

[swift-creates]

@tbb-appreciation-week DAY 5: CROSSHAIR (09/07) — Whump | Hiding Face in Neck | "I'll keep you safe."

characters and relationships: Crosshair, Hunter, the other Bad Batchers are mentioned

warnings: mentions of Hemlock and medical stuff (syringes), references to torture (as shown in tbb s2), mentions of nausea, PTSD

Notes: aside from tomorrow's lightly angsted fluff, what do i write that isn't whump, lbr. I didn't even realise that Crosshair doesn't speak in this until the last line until rereading it. most of this happens inside his head.

read on AO3

Crosshair stared at the syringe and tried his best not to look like he was about to throw up. 

The figure looms over him like something out of a nightmare, and the table’s restraints are metal claws around his wrists. The voice, soft but weighty in its menacing authority, pins him down just as well as the cuffs. 

“Surely, you have something useful to share.” 

The tightening of the strap around his head, the screams he realises come from himself only after they’d ripped his throat raw.

“She means nothing to you.”

They’d keep it up each time he refused to say a word, until the gray panels of the ceiling start to blur above him when he opens his eyes. 

“All you have to do… And you’ll have your freedom.”

He can’t tell them, even as the pain mounts up, threatens to rip his head from his body. He can’t. He protects his brothers, even if they’re no longer his squad. 

Even if he dies to keep them hidden.

“Crosshair. Are you even listening? Cross? Hey-”

A hand touched his shoulder, and he jerked away violently, stumbling back against Echo’s chair and falling to the floor as his knees buckled.

“Crosshair!” Hemlock’s face, glaring down at him, twisted in fury. He blinked, and it was Hunter’s, fraught with shock and worry. “What- Why’d you do that?”

The words stuck in his throat, clamped behind his jaws. It was only as Hunter tentatively reached out and took Crosshair’s hands in his that he realised he was shaking all over. 

“Are you okay?” Omega’s little face peered out from behind an equally concerned Wrecker, Tech standing just off to the side of her, fingers wrapped tightly around the armrest of his the pilot’s chair. Crosshair wanted to shake his head no, to scream it into a pillow or from the Marauder’s roof for the galaxy to hear, but instead he curled in on himself and closed his eyes, ignoring her.

He felt Hunter’s presence and grip on his hand shift, and then there was a warmth suddenly near him. He opened his eyes to see his brother leaning in close, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck to steady him. That grip was Hunter’s comfort move, his love language; a silent I’m here when he didn’t need or want to say the words. 

“We’re not on Tantiss anymore. You’re okay.” Crosshair held back a choked laugh. Trust him to hit the nail on the head after no more than a few seconds. “You’re safe now, you hear?”

Crosshair pulled his hand out of Hunter’s to roughly scrub at his wet face, the tears he couldn’t remember crying. He leaned into the safe press of his older brother’s embrace, buried his face in his neck as if he was a cadet making believe nothing bad could ever get to him while he was folded in this warm haven. And Hunter hugged him back like he was pretending the same. 

“You’re safe. You’re okay. And I’m never letting you go again. I’ll keep you safe. We’ll keep you safe. Forever. Understood?” He nodded into Hunter’s shoulder, sniffled and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing as tightly as he dared. 

“I hate you.”

“Love you too, Cross.”

[miss-musings]

I've contemplated doing a similar post before, so I'm glad that you got around to it because I think Crosshair's evolving dynamic with Omega is fascinating.

I agree with some of your assessments, but there are some points where I have different interpretations. I will state for the record that I am a big CrossDad fan, so some of it might be me looking from the end backwards and trying to find things that justify my reading, even if that's not what the showrunners intended.

I also went into some of this in another recent post. I will probably repeat a few points, but I'll try to keep it succinct.

"1.01" Aftermath & 1.08 "Reunion"

In 1.01, Crosshair does seem generally disinterested and borderline annoyed with Omega in some scenes. But there are a few moments where he seems curious (when she sits down in the cafeteria) or just taken aback (when she says "It's not your fault" in the brig).

After the hangar fight in 1.01, Crosshair doesn't interact with her until 1.08, when he, Hunter and Omega have their brief exchange about the inhibitor chips. As I pointed out in the other post, he does take a step toward her, and I've wondered before if that meant he believed her.

IF he does have his inhibitor chip removed after 1.08/1.09, that's a big indication that he trusted her (and Hunter).

However, I think at this point in the show, he does seem to have some bitterness, resentment and maybe even jealousy toward her. In his mind, he probably feels like his brothers chose her over him. His brothers went back for Omega in 1.01, but never came back for him (whether to save him or to join him).

That probably manifests in the line "Aim for the kid" in 1.08. Maybe Crosshair says it because he resents how protective Hunter is of Omega while not caring about him. Or maybe it's because he wanted to get a rise out of Hunter.

In any case, it's really hard to tell how much of these early interactions are him versus the chip, especially on Bracca after the chip was enhanced at least twice since Crosshair last interacted with Omega in the brig.

1.15 "Return to Kamino"

Unfortunately, Crosshair and Omega don't interact again until 1.15/1.16. But, at least by then, Crosshair is acting of his own free will and so it gives us an opportunity to gauge how he really feels about her.

As I argued in the other post, I think his little speech in 1.15 indicates he DOES care about Omega in his own, very general way.

He doesn't like her; he doesn't want to be around her; and he definitely wants to get her out of the picture so his brothers will join him and the Empire.

But here's the thing:

Once the Batch show up in the training room and throw down their weapons, rather than immediately starting his little sales pitch, he instead says:

Crosshair: Where's your little sidekick? Wrecker: You think we'd bring her here? Ha. We're smarter than that. Crosshair: Lying was never your strength, Wrecker. (to ES-02) Find the kid.

He then waits until ES-02 finds Omega to fully start his little sales pitch. Plus, the exact words and phrases he uses feel significant:

ES-02: (over the radio) Sir, I've found the girl. Crosshair: (to ES-02 over the radio) Send her on a shuttle off-world. Hunter: Crosshair, don't. Crosshair: It's for her own good. And yours. Hunter: Omega belongs with us. Crosshair: Living among fugitives where she's in constant danger? (scoffs) You want to protect the kid? Then let her go. Stop pretending to be something you're not, Hunter.

As I've said before, if Crosshair didn't give two figs about Omega, he could've ordered her to be killed, arrested or used as leverage to get his brothers to cooperate with his plans.

Instead, he orders her to be sent off-world. Maybe he knew the Empire was about to destroy Tipoca City. It's unclear from his reactions later in 1.16. But, either way, the facility is being decommissioned, and she can't stay there.

Crosshair DOES want Omega out of the way so his brothers can join him -- but safely.

He even (unknowingly) parallels Hunter's own remarks in 1.02 "Cut and Run" when he tried to have Omega go with Cut's family:

Hunter in 1.02: You have to go, Omega. It's for your own good. Crosshair in 1.15: It's for her own good. And yours. ... You want to protect the kid? Then let her go.

The fact that Crosshair says it's for Omega's own good, period, feels significant to me on top of the fact that he says Omega first then Hunter.

Crosshair also specifically criticizes Hunter for his "parenting" choices: by allowing Omega to travel with them, Hunter IS endangering her. (I know he doesn't have a lot of other options, but that's a story for another time.)

Again, if Crosshair doesn't give a crap about Omega, why would he phrase it like this? He could've just told ES-02 to send Omega away, and then told his brothers, "The kid's dead weight. Who gives a kriff about her? We were made to be soldiers, so join me."

The way I see it: Crosshair cares about Omega in a very general way.

Kind of like how you might care about your cousin's kid that you've only met a few times at family reunions. Let's say the kid was also really annoying and got on your nerves, and you don't like spending time with them even though you do like your cousin. BUT just because the kid is annoying and you don't want to be around them, that doesn't mean you want to see them get hurt or be endangered either. So if they fall off the monkey bars and start crying while no one else is around, you go help them. Whether that's for their sake, your cousin's sake, or just because you're family and that's what families do.

1.16 "Kamino Lost"

Moving on to 1.16, Crosshair's resentment and bitterness toward Omega really comes through in this episode. It's probably a combination of her saving his life, and the perception that his brothers chose her over him and treat her like a member of the squad while seemingly excluding him.

However, there are two moments that make me think he does care about her in some capacity.

The first is that he saves her life. I know he later justifies it as paying her back for saving his earlier, but Crosshair still took the initiative himself. No one made him do it -- no one "called in the debt." Crosshair has his own code of honor that says he has to match the level of loyalty others display for him (as we see later with Mayday in 2.12). He could've just let her drown, but he didn't. His own code said he had to save her.

It's totally possible that he saved her for multiple reasons: he cares about her, he knows his brothers care about her, he felt like he had to pay her back, etc.

(I still think he would've saved her regardless, but anyway...)

OK, but saving her doesn't necessarily mean he cares about her, especially given how he justifies it later. Right?

Well, then we have the final exchange between Crosshair and Omega on the platform. She thanks him for saving AZI (and her); he says "Consider us even"; and that's that. He's seemingly washed his hands of her.

Except then she says the one thing that seems to impact him emotionally:

Omega: You're still their brother, Crosshair. You're my brother, too.

As I said in my Crosshair S1 loyalty post:

This seems to be the only thing that really affects him, that causes him to doubt his decision, that causes him to show any kind of emotion beyond anger.

When Hunter offered Crosshair a chance to leave with them, Crosshair just turned away and scowled. But, when Omega affirms that she still cares about him, despite everything, Crosshair actually flinches.

But, maybe it wasn't so much that Omega said it. Maybe it was just the words themselves that caused him to react like he does. Or maybe it was just having his family leave him behind again. We don't really know for certain.

One thing I am positive about now, especially with his remarks in 3.05 "The Return" for context, is that Crosshair knew Omega was watching him right before the Marauder takes off.

Crosshair says being a sniper means "knowing when you have eyes on you." Omega boards the Marauder and looks out at Crosshair until the door closes, and the second she does, his eyes shift like he can sense her gaze.

He knew she was watching him until the last possible second. I will die on this hill.

2.14 "Tipping Point"

Moving onto 2.14 and Crosshair's feelings toward his family as Hemlock first bribes and then tortures him for information...

I've always wondered how Crosshair very quickly clocked that Hemlock was after Omega specifically.

Hemlock: No, you are here because I intend to give you a clean slate. And all you have to do in exchange is tell my how to find Clone Force 99. They are in possession of something I need. Crosshair: The kid. Hemlock: Very good.

Hemlock said it was something not someone.

Plus, Crosshair hasn't seen his family in at least six months. He has no idea what they might have that Hemlock would "need." Hell, they were trying to capture the Zillo Beast in 2.11, and if they'd succeeded, I imagine Hemlock would've wanted it back.

So, in my mind, either one of two things happened:

Crosshair pieced enough together based on the little information he does have. He might know he's on Tantiss. If he does, then he probably knows (based on what he says in 3.12) that Nala Se is there too. He also might have some idea of who Hemlock is and what he does for the Empire. So, maybe he's pieced together that Hemlock has Nala Se and wants Omega for whatever work they're doing on Tantiss.

Crosshair assumed the worst-case scenario and wanted to see whether Hemlock would confirm, either verbally or via body language, that he was right.

Hemlock being after Omega would be the worst-case scenario as Crosshair knows his brothers aren't going to give Omega up, so his entire family would be in danger of being captured and/or killed.

When he sends the Plan 88 message, I think he's doing it to keep his brothers and Omega safe. He doesn't exactly like her at this point in the show, but I still think he cares about her in his own way.

By 2.14, he's abandoned the Empire completely. So his family would be the people he's most loyal to, and I argue that includes Omega. She warned him about the inhibitor chip; she saved his life; she said she still cared about him despite everything; and she was physically and emotionally the last one to leave him behind on Kamino.

Plus, when he sends the Plan 88 message, he was about to use her name before getting cut off.

Up to this point, he's never called Omega by name. Even earlier in the episode, he called her "the kid" when talking to Hemlock. But, while he could've easily have just said "You have to hide -- they're after the kid," he instead planned to say "Omega." It feels significant to me.

Finally, and admittedly this is a meta reason, but when Hemlock confronts Crosshair again in the final scene and says:

Hemlock: Why suffer more? All I need is the young clone. She means nothing to you. Help me and you'll have your freedom.

Even if we don't exactly know whether or how much Crosshair cares about Omega at this point in the show, the writers definitely do (or at least, they should).

So, to have Hemlock specifically state that Omega means nothing to Crosshair feels intentional. The writers are having Hemlock underestimate how much Crosshair cares about his family, Omega included. She does mean ~something~ to him now, although definitely not as much as she will by series end.

Season 3

I agree that Crosshair went along with Omega's escape plan in 3.03 because he was trying to look out for her.

At this point in the show, he believes he deserves to be in prison. So, when he says things like "Another reason why this was not the day to wing an escape," it's because he's concerned for her, not for himself.

When she tells him to distract the guards, and he sighs and follows along, he's probably thinking, "Well, better do this, because if the guards spot her, she'll be trouble."

I ultimately believe 3.04 was the turning point for him. He specifically decides to go back for Omega, despite all the risks, because he doesn't want anything bad to happen to her. Or at minimum, if something bad does happen, he needs to be there with her.

From 3.04 on, he's "ride or die" for her.

As others have pointed out, Crosshair's core tenet is loyalty, and Omega proved her loyalty to him several times over. He found in her the loyalty he so desperately sought from his brothers and later the Empire.

So, of course, by the end of Season 3, he would return to his own personal hell and risk his life to save her.

Crosshair in 3.14: Omega didn't leave me behind when she could have. I owe her.

As I've said before, for Crosshair, his love is his loyalty and his loyalty is his love.

Evolution of Crosshair's relationship with Omega - a summary

^Starts out with casual disinterest. I love watching Crosshair's reactions in the background when Omega sits with them, though, because he's clearly interested in the conversation but kinda pretends he's not.

^Crosshair didn't want to disobey Tarkin's order at all, but he knows going back to Kamino at this point isn't a good idea. Why they're risking everything to go back for some kid they barely met is beyond him.

^This was when Crosshair still had his intensified inhibitor chip. While I am convinced Crosshair was fighting against the chip in his own way - he just can't bring himself to actually shoot to kill his own squadmates - that principle doesn't apply to Omega. And besides, what better way to retaliate against the brothers who insist he's wrong and won't join him, than to target someone they apparently care about more than him?

^I can just imagine Crosshair thinking, "Seriously, my elite band of brothers are kowtowing to a twelve year old (or however old she is)? She's a kid, she's not trained like we were, she's never fought in a war like we have, and aren't you supposed to be the leader, Hunter?"

^Omega had previously saved Crosshair from drowning, and while Crosshair used this as the reason why he saved her, I 1000% believe his real motivation was because he knew how much she meant to his brothers and he cared for them enough to do something about it. He might be hurt and angry with ALL of them, but he won't just stand back and let the kid die.

Still, I don't think he actually likes Omega; and when he tries to send the Plan 88 message to the Bad Batch, I think he is primarily doing it to save his brothers, not Omega in particular. He just doesn't know her well enough yet to care about her, but he does care about his brothers AND he knows they care about her and won't give her up.

^By now, Crosshair has had a few months' worth of visits from Omega to get to know her - and he knows her well enough to understand that he has to find a way to talk her out of wasting time and effort on him. So he refocuses her on her "primary objective," tries to push her away by claiming he'd happily leave her behind, doubles down by reminding her that he's not his other brothers; and then when all that doesn't work, he breaks down enough to tell her that he's getting what he deserves and she needs to focus on herself.

I am convinced that the only reason why Crosshair went along with the escape attempt at all wasn't for his own sake, but because he knew arguing with Omega at that point would mess up her chance for escape, and the least he could do was try to help her get out.

^Crosshair has seen Omega's skills, and is letting her call the shots now.

^Crosshair will quite literally go to hell and back not only to rescue Omega, but to support her in her goals. After all, she wanted Pabu to be spared, but she also had been wanting the chance to find and rescue the other clones... And Crosshair had to have known the moment he acquiesced to Omega's plan that his own return to Tantiss was imminent, because there is no way he would have sat back and let Echo and the others go after Tantiss without him even if the tracker plan had worked, not when Omega was at risk.

[jojobuddy]

The Bad Batch + f!reader

You are being pursued by an annoying fan and you are asking for help from clones 99.

(if you not okay with this, don't read plz)

Hunter:

He jumped up in surprise when you grabbed his arm. But immediately felt your fear and realized without words that you need help.

— Please pretend we're together, I'm being chased by some strange guy. And I-I'll buy you a drink or something!

— Don't worry, everything will be fine.

Oddly enough, it calmed you down and you felt completely safe next to him. When that annoying guy approached you, he met Hunter's stern gaze.

— Is she with you or something?

— Yes, she's mine. Any problems?

— No problem, man.

The guy quickly disappeared into the crowd. And you breathed a sigh of relief.

— Thank you very much. Can I buy something for you?

— Keep the credits to yourself and take care of yourself.

Echo:

— Please pretend we're together, I'm being chased by some strange guy. And I-I'll buy you a drink or something!

Echo doesn't like anyone touching him at all, but when you grabbed his hand, he felt you tremble.

— Please don't worry, ma'am. Everything will be fine.

His words immediately made it easier somehow. You looked up and looked at him. He noticed your embarrassment.

— You have beautiful facial features, Mr…

— Echo.

— Nice to meet you, Echo.

You smiled at each other and you felt so relaxed. But then that annoying guy came up to you.

— Is she with you or something?

— So it's you who dare to upset my girl here. If you don't want any problems, then leave in a good way.

The guy was taken aback by his words and decided to leave hastily.

— Thank you very much, you helped me a lot. Can I buy you a drink at least?

Echo smiled.

— I'll buy us something myself. What do you prefer?

Wrecker:

— Please pretend we're together, I'm being chased by some strange guy. And I-I'll buy you a drink or something!

Wrecker didn't mind that you were clutching his arm but he noticed that you were trembling all over and almost crying. He gave you a little hug.

— Who is this worm? Just show me.

The annoying guy, seeing you with such a big guy, didn't even dare to approach but ran away in fright.

Done! — Wreсker smiled.

— Thank you very much, you helped me a lot. Can I buy you a drink at least?

— Choose something you like, mesh'la.

— What does the last word mean? Does this mean something good?

The big guy laughed at your reaction.

— Yes, it means something good. Someday I'll tell you what it is.

Tech:

— Please pretend we're together, I'm being chased by some strange guy. And I-I'll buy you a drink or something!

At first, the Tech wanted to be indignant, but he noticed how scared you were. He put down his datapad and began to examine you.

Now you were surprised by his reaction.

— I'm not sick, sir -

His face was very close to yours, which made you blush a lot.

— You can just call me a Tech. And I'll help you. I analyzed the typical behavior of lovers and deduced for myself several examples of behavior in such a situation.

Then he put his hand on your waist and pulled you closer to him.

Just at that moment, that annoying guy came up to you two.

— Is she with you or something?

— It's very rude of you to upset my girl, I invited her to this place for the purpose of fun, and you are so brazenly trying to destroy everything. Disappear if you don't want very big problems.

He made this allusion to Wrecker who was already flexing his fists.

And at first glance, he doesn't look so brutal. That fact made your heart beat faster.

Tech noticed it immediately.

— Are you sure you're okay? If such a situation happens again, then you can turn to me for help or to my brothers. You'll recognize them by their armor like mine.

— Yes, I'm fine! Thank you very much! Can I buy something for you?

— No, thanks, I'll buy it myself.

And he ordered you some goodies.

— Here! This is so that you finally come to your senses.

Crosshair:

— Please pretend we're together, I'm being chased by some strange guy. And I-I'll buy you a drink or something!

Of course, he knew that the ladies were sticking to him, but not so much. But then he noticed how you were shaking and your voice was breaking.

— Take it easy, kitten.

After that, he pulled you to him. His hands were on your waist and it made you blush.

— What is it? Are you embarrassed?

— N-Nothing! It's all right!

The annoying guy appeared next to you and you pressed hard against the Crosshair.

— Is she with you or something?

— Touch her and you're dead.

He looked at him very sternly and the guy stuttered and disappeared into the crowd of people.

— Thank you very much, you helped me a lot. Can I buy you a drink at least?

The man chuckled.

— Your kiss will be enough for me.

[trashy28]

Get Some Rest (Tech x Reader) Pt 2

Warnings: anxiety, angst-y ?, mentions of death/near-death experiences, blood/gore, mentions of violence, fluff at the end i promise (i would say im sorry, but im not) (bet you didn't expect this right after a fluffy first part >:))

Pairing: Tech x GN!Reader

Word Count: 5.1k

Part 1, Part 2

Summary: Oh no! It's a mission gone wrong trope! I wonder what could possibly be underneath this keep-reading cutoff! It totally cannot be where the reader and the bad batch go on a rescue mission only for something to go awry leading to treating injuries, and feelings.

"Everything is going to be okay. It will be alright. You got this y/n, you got this." You mumbled to yourself under your breath as you hid behind a convenience stall on some Outer Rim planet.

Something had gone wrong, VERY wrong. The mission was supposed to be easy: get in, get the prisoners, and get out, but it had all gone downhill faster than you could say dank farrik.

-

Earlier in the day, Tech had tapped into a secure Separatist transmission when messing around with his datapad. The Separatists were broadcasting a signal from a supposed neutral Outer Rim planet back to their base only a system away. They had taken the native people as prisoners and were going to use them for something, but none of you could figure out what. From then on, Hunter had taken charge, deciding that there was no time to ask for approval on the mission.

When the five of you reached the planet, you couldn't help but whisper to Tech next to you, "None of this seems right. If the Separatists did take these people as prisoners wouldn't there still be ships and droids?"

Tech simply looked at you before saying, "Not if they wanted to be secretive about it," and going back to his datapad.

You let out a huff. Things hadn't been that different between you two after the kiss you shared in the cockpit of the Havoc Marauder. When in private there would be shared tender moments, like there was nothing in the world that could come between you two, but with his brothers, Tech would regard you as the friend they all viewed you to be. They all knew something was going on between you two, and you had even taken it upon yourself to rant to Crosshair one night. He said he 'reluctantly' chose to listen, but he had calmed your anxious babbling about how you thought that Tech was embarrassed that you two were something now. That brought up another fact about how you two never addressed what you could call yourselves. Any time you tried to bring it up to Tech he would either cut you off with something else he was wildly researching, or one of his brothers would walk in and need either one of you. Crosshair's words did help to remind you that "That's just how Tech is sometimes. Clones were made to be fighters, not lovers." Leave it to him to say something like that. Out of every one of his brothers you knew he was the one who wanted a normal life the most even if he didn't show it.

As you and the rest of the group began your walk from the Marauder to the closest town you found yourself falling into step next to Wrecker instead of your usual placement besides Tech. Looking down at you, he asks, "Something bothering you? It sure looks like something is,"

Looking up to make eye contact with him you say, "I still don't feel like this is right. Everything seems to be falling into place too easily. This never happens to us!"

Wrecker turns his attention back to the surroundings passing a glance over the open area before stating, "Honestly, it is a little odd, but I trust the others and their intuition as much as yours."

The finality in his tone stood true as neither of you said anything for the rest of the walk into the town square. Walking past the empty booths would have been enough to send normal civilians running at the sight, everything was ruined. Curtains torn, fruit on the floor, and vendor booths destroyed. It was a depressing sight to see, but sadly one that the group was used to, it was a time of war after all.

After a little longer of walking and reaching the heart of the city, Hunter holds his fist up and all of the groups' motion ceases. "Tech," he says, "Can you pick up anything else from that transmission or anything that could give us a clue as to what else happened here?"

"I'm working on it, have been since we landed. The Separatists have scrambled all signals, so it’s taking me a while to try and find the frequency again," Tech answers before looking around the surrounding area, "As for what happened here, I think the evidence speaks for itself."

Hunter sighs before saying, "Alright, we'll split into two groups to cover more ground. Tech, and Wrecker you're with me. Crosshair and y/n, I expect no arguments coming out of this grouping."

Crosshair scoffs as you roll your eyes and make your way to stand next to him. "Didn't plan for arguments but maybe I'll start a few just to piss you off now," you say as you turn back towards Hunter.

"Just make it back here in one piece, we'll meet back up here at 1500, and if anybody is late, we assume they have gone missing and this was a trap," Hunter says before turning away and starting to walk down one of the many deserted alleys.

"Looks like we're stuck together again Cross," you let out before elbowing his side and starting to walk forward.

Following you and shoving a toothpick in his mouth he says, "As long as you don't complain about your problems with your boyfriend the whole time this might just be enjoyable."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get going you karking toothpick lover."

-

It had only been around half an hour or so of walking before you and Crosshair could hear blaster fire in the distance. You ask, "Hey Cross, am I dehydrated, or is that actual blaster fire?" Turning around to face the said man, he already had his eyepiece down checking for heat signatures and was pulling you by your arm into a space between two buildings.

"There's nothing around us, but I'm assuming the others encountered some clankers. They must have found something because well, we found nothing and have no one after us," Crosshair states before tilting his helmet down to you and reading your facial expressions, "You want to go back and help them, don't you?"

"Of course I do Crosshair! Don't pretend that you don't want to either, I know how you care for your brothers. Let's just try to make it back without alerting any of those damn droids," you reply.

Crosshair tilts his head towards a stack of boxes and towards the roof of the buildings, you were situated between. "I think I have an idea."

-

"Why the hell did I let you come up with the idea to get back to your brothers. Running from roof to roof isn't exactly easy and leaves us out in the open," you complain before hopping another gap in-between roofs to catch up with Crosshair.

Crosshair stops short in front of you on the next roof almost causing you to walk into him before turning around to face you, "Look, I'm just as anxious as you to get back to them, but they are all capable enough to take care of themselves and I trust them with that. You of all people should know that as well," he spits angrily, and could almost hear a growl with his final punctuation.

"I know Crosshair, I get that you are worried, but I just can't help thinking that something had to go wrong. Let's just hope that my intuition is the wrong thing," You say before putting a hand on his shoulder, "C'mon, let's make this fast."

-

By the time you had made it back to the town square, to your luck, you still had not encountered any droids except for the ones who were scattered all over the floor in pieces.

"Looks like Hunter got to work on these guys," you say as you bend down to touch the large gash left by a vibro-knife in the torso of a droid.

Crosshair is examining another droid with its head ripped off only a few meters from you, "Looks like Wrecker got these guys too. But the question remains: where are Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech?"

At this, you paused and drew your focus away from the droid and instead survey the area, "The real question is, why is there no evidence of Tech fighting back? There are no electro-proton bombshells and even no blaster marks on any of these guys."

"Maybe they split up," Crosshair looks at you before pointing down one of the alleys.

"Fuck, I hope you're right."

-

It didn't take both of you that long to find Hunter and Wrecker, but it also didn't take long for another set of droids to ambush you. That's how you found yourself pressed behind the convenience stall mumbling under your breath. You had managed to take down a few droids but were forced to take cover. The others were still scattered around picking off droids one by one just as you remembered that Tech was still nowhere to be seen. Your mind was rushing faster than you could've ever thought trying to find out any idea as to where he could have gone.

Suddenly the blaster fire stopped as you heard a final clank from a droid hitting the ground. As you stood up you looked around cautiously, and deciding the coast was clear you jumped over the stall to group up with the rest of the bad batch.

As everyone began looking over each other there seemed to be only one thought shared between the group. This was a trap and Tech was gone.

Trying to alleviate the sour mood the group was plunging headfirst into you chuckled before saying, "You guys can finally say I was right now."

The others groaned before Hunter said, "Now is not the time y/n, Tech's missing and we have no clue where the kark he could be."

"You think I don't know that Hunter?" You let out through clenched teeth before continuing, "I'm just as worried as you are right now, but let's get somewhere where we don't have to worry about droids ambushing us."

Crosshair let out a sigh from beside you, "They're right. We won't be able to help Tech if we're dead so let's get back to the ship."

Picking up what he was putting down you finished for him, "We can re-group our thoughts on the Marauder, come up with a game plan, and then retrace our steps. It will do no good thinking while our minds are in 20 places at once."

-

Back on the ship all of you had gathered around the small datapad you placed in the middle of the table. "Alright, I tracked Tech's datapad's last known location to here, but who knows if it even with him," you say before zooming in on the location, "We can't guarantee that it would be safe either, we all know the number of clankers they sent after us just to try and keep us away."

"As long as I get to blow something up and get Tech out, anything is a good plan," Wrecker says before heading towards the back of the ship.

Crosshair nods at both you and Hunter before getting out of his seat to go and follow Wrecker.

"I know you're really worried, you don't hide your emotions that well," Hunter says while placing a hand on your shoulder.

"No shit Hunter," you start while rolling your eyes, "I'm worried about what might happen if we can't find him, or even if it's too late and he's already gone. I don't know what I would be able to do without him."

Hunter gives your shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "It will be okay y/n. For our sake and yours, let's think positively."

-

The four of you had made your way back into the town square better equipped and without a problem. You had some of your own plastoid armor on now for a bit of extra protection in case things decided to take an even stronger turn for the worst.

"The signal from the datapad is down the alley to the Northeast," you say while glancing up from your own datapad.

The group nods back at you as you continue your way down the alley. It was quiet, the tall sand-colored buildings surrounding you couldn't help but make you feel claustrophobic. The other alleys were not like this. They had seemed to be more open, with a lot fewer canopies, but this one had canopies blocking almost all the sun. It also didn't help that it was starting to get dark.

As you reached another intersection, Hunter held up his fist to signify everyone to stop. A wave of déjà vu flashed over you, and you prayed to any gods that would listen that you wouldn't split up again. After a few moments, Hunter turned to you and tilted his head to the side, to which you answered by pointing your hand to the alley to the right. In a whisper, you add, "If we continue straight down that alley, we should reach another intersection. Tech's datapad should be there."

The four of you continued walking again and when you reached the intersection you couldn't help but let out a strangled sob. There was a pool of blood on the farthest side of the intersection that was smeared on one side. Rushing up next to the blood, you stopped mere centimeters from it as your eyes caught sight of Tech's datapad. Your hands were shaking as you reached for it and you brushed a finger over one of the bloody fingerprints. "Oh shit," you say letting out a shaky breath. How could you have let this happen; how could you allow yourselves to walk right into a trap? Now Tech was gone, bleeding out, or dead, and there was no exact way to trace him.

You see Wrecker's hands wrap around your own but don't register the feelings. Your whole body has seemingly shut off and stopped processing the world around you. Wrecker takes the datapad from your hands and passes it to either Hunter or Crosshair. You are too shocked to care as you collapse to your knees. Wrecker is at your side on the ground in seconds and pulls you right into him. The plastoid armor that would bring you so much comfort as you used to hold Tech close only burned as tears began to fall from your face. The air was thick with remorse and regret, but you couldn't hold on to the fact that he could be dead. After a few somber minutes recollecting yourself, you pushed away from Wrecker and pushed yourself off the ground, offering a hand to Wrecker to assist him. Once both of you were up and you had cleaned the sand off your pants, you turned towards Hunter and Crosshair. They were silent as ever, Crosshair had taken a seat on of the nearby crates and had his head in his hands, and Hunter had taken to looking at Tech datapad.

Breaking the silence, you spoke first, "We can't just give up and believe he is dead," startling Crosshair causing him to jump in his seat.

"Yeah, we need to think he's still out there, that the Separatist kept him alive for information," Wrecker added, backing you up.

Hunter had turned back around waving the datapad, "They were smart enough to keep his datapad here, but they weren't smart enough to wipe any messages on it."

At this, you scrambled over to Hunter's side and pulled that datapad closer to your face. Displayed was an unsent message to you that contained various numbers. "Coordinates," you say breathlessly as Crosshair joins the rest of you standing in a haphazard circle around the datapad. Adding, you ask, "Do you think those are the coords of the base where they took the prisoners too?"

"Probably," Crosshair speaks for the first time since arriving at the intersection, "Let's hope Tech's there too."

Taking Tech's datapad from Hunter, Crosshair begins off in the direction leading away from Tech's bloodstain on the ground, but also opposite the way you came. The rest of you fall into step behind him and continue your way to your destination.

-

On the way following the coordinates, all four of you were on high alert, but no droids had come to attack you, relieving some of the stress. It didn't help relax you guys upon seeing the droids surrounding a large sandstone castle-like building. Stopping at the crest of a hill a while away from the makeshift Separatist base, Hunter and you took to scanning the surrounding area, while Crosshair and Wrecker began to formulate some form of attack.

"Once again, I can tell you're worried," Hunter said as you both had scopes pulled out to try and find any weak points in the droid formations.

"And once again, we all are Hunter. I just hope we aren't too late," You reaffirm before pointing at a space straight ahead, "Look, they're rotating shifts. Maybe we could find a way in on their next rotation."

Hunter turns to look at you before saying, "How would we know when the next rotation is?"

"I don't know, maybe figure out what time it is Mr. Survivalist," you taunt sarcastically.

Hunter scoffs before saying "It's 1900, we could use the fact that it's dark out now to our advantage. It could help us slip in and out undetected if we want."

Nodding before standing up, you say, "True, let's go tell the others and see if it can play into their plan."

-

Once getting back to Crosshair and Wrecker, all four of you focused on a plan and decided it was best to split into two groups to help divide the droid forces. There would be no surprise ambushes by the droids, but instead an ambush on them. You and Hunter taking the back way in, through the gap in droid shifts you noticed earlier, while Wrecker and Crosshair would work on some sort of distraction from the front.

Wrapping up the discussion of the plan one last time before separating Hunter adds, "Remember, this is a rescue mission. Once we have Tech and possible other prisoners we get out as fast as we can."

You, Wrecker, and Crosshair nodded before wishing each other luck as they walked off from your position.

"You ready y/n?" Hunter asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be," you say back to him as you two make your way towards your position.

-

Once situated towards the back of the building, Hunter commed Crosshair saying, "The droids are about to rotate positions, on my word start whatever distraction you have in mind."

The two of you waited on edge while the minutes drew on. After what felt like forever the droids finally began to move. At this, Hunter commed Crosshair again with finality, saying, "Now."

From your position, you could see the blast from the explosives Wrecker had set off, along with the heavy concentration of blaster fire. The droids that were covering the area where you and Hunter immediately went to act as reinforcement to those affected by the blast.

Hunter and you ran from your location to the back of the building, quickly finding an open window. Pulling the window open more, you forced your way inside as Hunter followed. The room was empty, and most of the lights were off. Pulling out a flashlight you scanned it across the floor quickly before turning it off again to not be spotted, even if there was a small chance of that.

"It looks like we are in some type of living room," Hunter says before making his way away from the window and peeking his head around the corner of the door and into the hallway. "The hallway's clear, I would say split up to cover more floors, but seeing what happened last time I told everyone to split up... I don't think that's a good idea."

Nodding you made your way over to him to look out into the hallway as well. "I say we go to the basement if there is one. It would make sense to keep people prisoner there," You say before stepping foot into the hallway.

"Yeah, but the only problem is finding stairs that could lead to a basement," Hunter says while stepping into place behind you.

"It shouldn't be that hard, plus if Tech was still bleeding by the time, he got here, wouldn't you think there would be a trail of blood where they brought him?" You shuddered while stating the possibility out loud, just as Hunter made a noise of acknowledgment.

After what felt like hours of walking the hallways on high alert, and checking most rooms as you come across them, you staggered trying to stop yourself from walking as you finally caught sight of some blood on the ground. "Hunter," you whispered, "Look."

Hunter looked around your form to get a glance at what you were looking at, before shining his flashlight down the rest of the hall. "There's a trail too," he said while keeping his flashlight trained on the spots of blood.

"C'mon," You say as you grab him by the hand and pull him the rest of the way down the hallway.

Stopping at the end of the said hallway you are greeted by stairs to the left of you, and you turn to Hunter before silently agreeing to walk town together in sync. The stairs were solid sandstone, so you didn't have to worry about any creaky stairs, but you did have to worry about footing. Pulling out your vibro-knives at the same time as Hunter, you two started making your way down the stairs. The sight that waited for you and the bottom of the short walk would stick in your head forever. The basement was one single connected holding cell, with prisoners lined up against the bars trying to get a look at you. Some of them were crying, others wailing in pain, and some had fallen into silent spells. Noticing this, Hunter and you quickly put your knives away before you rushed to the gate with the main lock at it. While you made fast work of the lock and quickly picked it, Hunter had begun reassuring the people that we were here for help and that he was looking for someone who looked like us. With the gate, open people poured out in a mass exodus and began to make their way upstairs, without a single care of what could happen to them.

Once almost everyone was out, you and Hunter made your way into the cell where you were greeted with another terrible sight. Tech was there on a stone table in the middle of a cell with one of them, now freed, prisoners hovering over him. His armor was off and tossed to the side as he was only in his blacks, and he had a bacta patch wrapped around his torso. You rushed over to him as Hunter escorted the prisoner out of the cell and couldn't help but let out a sob for the second time today. Tech looked frail, and you hesitated to even reach out to touch him fearing that it would break him. You were immediately relieved after placing two fingers on his wrist and feeling his pulse. It was weak, but it was still there. "Hunter! I need some help down here," you call out before starting to run around the table to grab Tech's armor. Hunter came running back down the stairs at your call and once you saw him you continued, "I need you to carry him out of here. I'll get his armor, but we need to move fast before the droid realize that this was all a diversion."

At this Hunter makes his way to Tech's side without a word and picks him up and slings him over his shoulder. Grabbing the final pieces of Tech's armor, both of you begin to make your way up to the stair. Tapping the comlink on your wrist you hear blaster fire permeate through the room around you. "Crosshair, we got Tech. If I know Wrecker, he probably has some explosives, so as soon as we get out of the house, give him the word to blow this place up."

"Got it," Crosshair says before the comlink closes with a beep.

"Let's try a nearby window and get out of here as fast as we can before we tell them to set the chargers," you say to Hunter as you force your way ahead of him and into the closest room. Hunter follows you before grunting as a noise of approval. Making your way to the window, you grab Tech's helmet from where it sat under your arm and smashed it. Hunter gives you an exasperated look as he walks past you and out the window first, to which you only say, "What? It was a lot easier than putting everything down and opening it.

Once both of you are outside, you make your way to the location where you two started the mission. Reaching the spot a few meters away, you open the com with Crosshair again, "Crosshair, tell Wrecker to light it up. Now!"

Instead of getting an actual response as an answer, you could hear the various explosions coming from the area behind you.

"Nice work you two but meet up with us where we made camp before, it will be quicker to get back to the Marauder with Wrecker carrying Tech," You say into the com again before forcing yourself to walk in the direction of the temporary camp from before.

"Rodger that," Both Crosshair and Wrecker's voices come through the comlink before the transmission ends again with a beep.

-

The four of you, plus an unresponsive Tech, met up quickly and rushed back to the Marauder as soon as you could. Reaching the ship was a relief as Hunter had immediately gone into the cockpit and got you guys off the planet, and Wrecker took Tech to the bunks with you in tow with medical supplies.

Once Wrecker placed Tech on his respective bunk, you immediately rushed him out of the room and got to work. Removing the hastily applied bacta patch, you assessed the wound that Tech had got before he was captured. It was nasty at first glance, but you assumed it was even worse before he had the first batch patch applied. The cut ran from his left shoulder across his torso, coming to finally stop at the bottom of his right ribs. Luckily, the cut wasn't that deep, because there would have been hardly a chance, he would've survived that. Continuing your work, you cleaned the wound before wrapping it up again in another bacta patch. Standing up and observing the handiwork of your terrible medical experience, you run a full body scan with your datapad just to check for any other injuries that could internal. Thankfully, the scan came up negative and you could assume that Tech had just passed out due to blood loss. He still looked extremely pale as you stood there and stared at him, but some color was starting to return to his body.

Sitting back down, you grasped his hand in yours and looked at both hands together. As the weight of the day's events slowly started the catch up with you, you could hardly help yourself as you began to fall asleep. In a state of half-consciousness, you could've sworn you felt Tech's hand squeezing yours, but you were too tired to even process the notion that he might've.

-

The feeling of someone pulling your hand to their lips pulled you out of your nap and caused you to pick your head up from the side of Tech's bunk.

"Good morning Tech," you said before you could even process what was happening, but as soon as the words left your mouth your head snapped up and your eyes immediately widened. "Tech! You're up!"

Tech let out a breathy chuckle before trying to force his way up, only for you immediately to place your hand on his good shoulder and force him back down, "Nope, no getting up for you just yet. You had us all worried sir," you say while shifting your position to get a better look at him.

"I never meant to cause you guys any trouble," he says sincerely, "We had all got split up when those droids attacked us, and they caught me by surprise by sending in reinforcements."

"It's okay Tech, you don't need to justify your actions, you're alive and here back on the Marauder with us. That is all that matters," you say before gripping his hand again and squeezing it.

"Y'know while the droids were dragging me away as I was bleeding out, I couldn't help but focus on one thing," he says while squeezing your hand in return.

"Oh? And what was that?" You ask with a smile on your face.

Tech smiles back at you before bringing your hand to his lips again and placing a firm kiss on your knuckles, "I couldn't stop thinking about how I hadn't told you how much I love you."

Freezing in your place at the combinations of the words and the sincerity in Tech's tone, you couldn't help but find yourself smiling wider at what he had said. "I love you too Tech, too much. I thought I had lost you today but I'm so glad I didn't," you say with finality in your tone.

Leaning down to place a kiss on his lips you find yourself in a state of relief. Tech was back and safe out of harm's way, and he really does love you. Pulling away from the kiss, but still holding eye contact with him you say, "You still need to rest up, and don't think that kissing me will be a distraction."

Tech rolls his eye and lets out a groan before smirking and saying, "Well after I'm all healed you better make it up to me."

You smack his leg and let out a huff of frustration and as you go to walk out of the room you say, "We'll see about that one Tech. We'll see."

taglist: @bandaid-bunny @haloangel391

a/n: once again i feel like this is meh but i still dont know. i meant to have this done 2 days ago but almost passed out because of my second dose of the covid vaccine, plus i had a 6 page paper due so likeeee. anyway TAKE THIS right after the new episode, also if you guys watched it already... HOLY SHITTTT 🙏

[99aceace]

Thanks for the tag, @toastyrobos

So,

My favorite member of TBB is Tech. And Crosshair. I'm really indecisive, can't pick just one, deal with it.

Because: Tech is a badass nerd. World needs more badass nerds. Also he's autism coded and that makes him easily relatable for neurodivergent people like me. And we do need more representation. About Crosshair: I actually started to like him in season 2. Seeing him learn he was wrong about the Empire the hard way was just very impactful. I enjoy his snarky comments too.

I identify the most with: Tech. And Hunter.

Because: Tech struggles with social interactions. Well, so do I. Also, he's a show-off. I 'm a show-off as well. Tell me something incorrect about genetics or biology in general (I study genetics) and I'll give you a whole lecture to prove you wrong. (Star wars shows for example don't have a clue how actually genetics works). And I don't know when to shut up, others have to make me. Tech's got similar problem. None of us is very good at reading social clues. We both have terrible eyesight. I'm certain Tech is short sighted like me because of how close he holds his datapad to his face.

And I identify with Hunter because he seems worried all the time and he keeps second guessing all of his decisions. Well, as I'm writing this I keep wondering: should I even do this? My English is way too terrible for this

5. My favorite minor character from the show: That would be Cid

6. Because: In real life I'd probably hate her. She's a grumpy rude old grandma with not much respect for other sentient beings, she's completely untustworthy too. But she doesn't pretend to be anything else. Cid is literally " working with me won't be very beneficial for you and I'm gonna actively threaten you to betray you any time. And I am capable of actually betraying you. Are you in?" I appreciate her honest dishonesty.

7. TBB- centric piece I'm most proud of:

Because It's hard to draw scene that dark with promarkers. I rarely succeed.

8. TBB centric piece of art I enjoy:

Tech is absolutely my favorite character and @aeli-tan-art is an absolutely amazing artist.

9. TBB-centric fanfic that I enjoy.

There are plenty. But if I had to choose:

10. A TBB headcanon: Crosshair can knit and crochet. And he made Lula for Wrecker.

11. Colors for Crosshair's mercenary armor: Black with olive green and very dark blue. I don't believe he would like anything eye-catching.

12. And In season 3 I need to see Tech alive!!! I need him to rescue Crosshair. I need a happy ending.

@fandomhoard @thattoothpick @verndusk @levi-venn

Fellow Zealots of The Bad Batch, Unite!

Please share your answers to these questions and pass them on to some of your Bad Batch-loving buds!

Your favorite member of TBB is:

Because:

You identify the most with:

Because:

Your favorite minor character from the show:

Because:

A TBB-centric piece or post of yours that you are most proud of:

Because:

Link so that we can appreciate it:

A TBB-centric piece of art that slaps so hard you enjoy (and why):

Link:

A TBB-centric fanfic that gives you life you enjoy (and why):

Link:

A TBB headcanon or trope that is 100% canon to you:

Color(s) you think would suit if Crosshair gets "Mercenary" armor:

One thing you NEED to see happen in Season 3:

@wwheeljack @wrenkenstein @floundrickthewayfarer @raevulsix @enigmatist17 @slenderboo @echojedis @nika6q @zaana @wiseowl18 @toastyrobos @eclec-tech @jigget @destril @niobiumao3

[masterjedilenawrites]

"Youre so full of light, I'm afraid I'll be the one to quench it" with crosshair x reader? is that an option?

Awww yesss, I’m happy to write anything for this grumpy toothpick! 🖤

Crosshair x reader | 2k words

“You’re so full of light... I’m afraid I’ll be the one to quench it” from this prompt list.

Crosshair was avoiding you. That much was obvious.

At first you'd thought he was having a bad day and let him have his space. But then it kept happening. Never looking at you. Leaving the room as soon as you entered. Pretending not to hear your questions. You were back to where you'd started with him, all those rotations ago when the Bad Batch had first arrived on your home world to help drive out some troublesome pirates. He'd been a tough cookie to crack, but slowly, day by day, you'd managed to draw him more and more out of his shell. And the more he did, the more you fell for him.

But now he'd retreated back behind his walls again and you had no clue why. Had you said or done something to scare him? You weren't sure, but you also weren't disheartened. You knew someone as special as Crosshair would take time and patience to bond with. You'd pull him back out eventually, you were confident.

An opportunity came when Hunter announced one day the need for the marksman to scout a nearby pirate camp, located in a clearing just beneath a forested ridge of land. You knew the area yourself and convinced the Sergeant you'd be a good assistant for Crosshair's recon mission. The sniper had had his helmet on when Hunter sent you off with him, so you could only imagine whatever salty expression he sported beneath it.

The two of you trudged along in silence for a while at first. Occasionally you'd suggest a path to take, or he'd caution you from stepping on the more unstable parts of the terrain hidden beneath the underbrush. Otherwise, you let him be, and instead focused most of your attention on taking in your surroundings. Even in the midst of trouble, you still made a point to appreciate the beauty of your planet. The curved and knotted trees, each as unique as a snowflake, with their wide leaves fluttering in the grasp of a stray breeze. The tiny beams of sunlight that sliced through the foliage and illuminated the otherwise dingy forest floor. The echoing songs of the winged creatures that danced above your heads, ignorant to the conflict of the more sentient beings they cohabited with.

Eventually you couldn't help yourself, and you started to hum a song of your own. It was a tune you made up as you went, each note created to express whatever new feeling sparked within you as you ventured further into the forest. You were hardly a composer, and you were certain that even when humming you were off-key, but it didn't matter. The song made you feel light and free, a feeling that was rare but welcomed wherever you could find it.

You realized you were being watched, and turned your head to see Crosshair's worn helmet trained in your direction. He quickly averted his gaze, but it was enough to show you he'd been staring for a while. You hid a smile, not wanting to seem like you were teasing.

"Am I annoying you?"

"No," he said, low and quick. You noticed his grip on his rifle tightened ever so slightly.

"Are there any songs you like? I can try to sing if I know them."

He did not respond, continuing to plod alongside you in silence. Well, at least you'd gotten one word out of him.

You soon arrived at a part of the ridge that gave you the perfect view of the pirate encampment below. You nestled in the crook of a large tree while Crosshair laid himself prone on the ground next to you. He used the scope of his rile to get a better look at the camp, muttering details he thought important while you logged them on a holopad for future strategizing.

"Kriff," he growled. You peered around the trunk of the tree, as if you could see whatever had caught his eye from such a distance. You could only make out little dots of tents and people scattered in the valley below, so you turned back to him for explanation. "Children."

You hummed knowingly, which seemed to fluster him.

"That doesn't concern you?" His scope was abandoned as his helmet lifted to face you.

You shrugged. "What, criminals can't fall in love and start families?"

You couldn't see his scowl but you could feel it. You weren't sure why his grumpiness made you want to laugh sometimes, but you hid your amusement with another shrug, not wanting to upset him further, not when he seemed to be more open to talking to you again.

"Well it's going to make this mission much more difficult," he grumbled, starting to pack up his rile.

"Yeah..." you agreed, but you didn't sound as defeated as he did. "We'll just have to get creative. We'll figure it out."

He was crawling over to your spot behind the tree but paused at your words, his helmet tilting as if in thought for a moment. You raised your eyebrows at him, wishing you could somehow read the marksman's mind. You were certain his thoughts were fascinating; they usually were with the quiet ones.

He settled into the space next to you and fumbled around in one of his pouches, eventually bringing out a couple of small ration packs. You smiled in gratitude as you took the one he offered you. You hadn't realized how famished you'd grown from this outing.

"It's not much," he mumbled as if apologizing. He worked on freeing himself from his helmet and you tried not to stare at the face that emerged from it.

"It's still something," you smiled through bites of... well, whatever it was you were eating. It tasted more like wood than food and you tried to believe it at least had some nutritional value as you forced it down.

Crosshair was shaking his head at your words.

"What?" you asked. He only shook his head again.

You tried to drop it, but your patience was starting to wear a little faster than usual. He was so close to you, and yet he felt further away than ever. You were both angled so that it'd be natural to look at each other, but you could see him purposefully looking anywhere else. You moved your knee experimentally, brushing against his and causing it to jerk away suddenly. Even beneath all his armor you could tell his muscles were tense. Something was clearly bothering him and you hated the thought that you were somehow the cause of it.

"Crosshair," you said, trying to keep your voice soft and non-threatening, but still speaking loud enough for him to know you were trying to get his attention. He reluctantly looked at you, his fingers curling around the rile that lay across his lap in clear display of unease. He almost looked sick. "What's wrong?"

His frown deepened, further than you ever thought possible.

"Cross," you said again, even softer now, scooting yourself just a little bit closer. You felt like you were approaching an injured animal. You needed to be careful if you wanted to help him, lest his suddenly snap and chase you away.

"Nothing's wrong," he huffed, still determined to keep his thoughts private. You didn't move closer, only looked him up and down, trying to figure him out.

"If I did something to upset you," you said slowly, "please let me know, so I can try to make amends. I don't want to be a burden to you."

He sighed, but it wasn't as frustrated or annoyed as it usually sounded. He brought his hands up to his face and dragged them down, slow and forlorn. When he spoke, it was so quiet you could barely understand. "You're not a burden."

You squinted at him, summoning back what patience you'd briefly lost before, waiting.

"I'm the burden," he said a little louder. "You, you're so..."

His eyes cast about the forest beside him, as if he might find the words he wanted painted on the trees. You held your breath, unsure what they could possibly be.

"So full of light," he finally said, allowing his gaze to finally meet yours. "And... I'm afraid I'll be the one to quench it."

You blinked as it became clear to you the cause of his turmoil.

"Your response to everything is positive," he continued rather quickly, as if to get his thoughts out before he could stop himself. "All I see is hardship and difficulty. You sing songs and act like everything is beautiful."

"Most things are," you couldn't help but say, which only caused him to glare at you, proving his point.

"This forest is not," he said. "There are a hundred places someone could've hid and got the jump on us. Those pirates are not... They can have as many children as they want, but they are fools for bringing them along to a raid. These rations are not..."

He threw the crumpled wrapper at you and probably would've continued his ranting had you not let out reached out for his hand and stopped him.

"Okay, okay, I get it," you said with a slight chuckle, only resting your hand atop his, not yet holding it fully. "I'm an optimist, you're a cynic. So what?"

"So..." his voice slipped back into a growl. But he trailed off, unable to explain why it mattered to him that you were so different from each other. You had a guess as to why now; it had become quite clear to you the sniper had feelings for you that were very similar to the ones you had for him.

"You want to know what I think?" you asked with a smile. You waited for his nod to continue. "I think we need each other. I think you need me to ease your worries, show you that not everything is as difficult as you make it. And I need you to keep me grounded. Keep me safe from all the threats I can't see. We make a good team, you and I. That's what I think."

Crosshair looked at you and it was if the walls he'd built up were slowly lowering down again, just as they had when you'd first gotten to know him. The lines on his face, usually so sharp and prominent, softened as your words began to settle within him. You much preferred seeing him like this, relaxed and at ease.

"You won't ever be a burden to me," you said, now letting yourself cross the gap that remained between you, saddling up alongside him so your sides were flushed together and your hands, now holding each other properly, rested on your thigh. "My entire planet is at war. Most of my friends have left or are dead. I don't even have a home anymore. It's going to take a lot more than your grumpy ass to quench my light."

You rested your head against the stiff plastoid on his shoulder. It wasn't comfortable, but it was more to show him the truth of your words. You trusted him. You enjoyed him. You wanted to be close to him.

He didn't say anything, but then again, he was better with actions anyway. After a beat, he let go of your hand and moved to wrap his arm around you instead, pulling you into the crook of his shoulder and placing a toothpick between his teeth with a contented sigh. You let out a happy sound of your own, humming your made-up song as the two of you rested against the tree.

You knew this probably wasn't the end of Crosshair's insecurities, that you had a lot of work ahead of you to continue convincing him that he was wanted and worthy, that you were strong and safe. But it was a good start, and you were more than willing to keep going, knowing the reward of Crosshair's love at the end would make it all worth it.